From the Heart
by Niar-Muse
Summary: Deidre is not fit to be at Beacon, let alone near a combat school. Her heart is too weak for most exercises in general. In fact she was contempt to continue forging documents to get by. So why is she even at Beacon? Well, it's a long story. ABANDONED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE
1. Prologue

There were so many people.

Deidre's hand bunched up the fabric of her shirt as she stood towards the back of the airship, her heart was beating wildly and she felt sick. She had never been around this many people, let alone humans, for this long and in such close proximity.

Nor had she ever been on an airship before.

When Deidre had stepped on it she immediately felt like fainting and when she had seen all the weapons everyone else carried she felt even more out of place than she had been before. Everyone aboard the airship had their weapons out in the open, gleaming in the sunlight and a stark reminder that they were more than just teenagers: _they were future hunters_.

Deidre had never stepped foot in a combat academy, nor had she ever used a weapon in combat, just the thought of it caused her chest to tighten.

So what was she doing going to Beacon Academy?

It was a long story.

 **Short chapter, I know. It's just an opening for what's to come. Next chapter will be much longer, promise.  
Like always, reviews are helpful and I'll see you next chapter.**


	2. Chapter 1

Deidre browsed the shelves of the local convenience store down the road from her apartment, a plastic basket hung off her left arm, already weighed down by the few groceries she had picked up. The sun had gone down long ago, though Deidre didn't mind, she was more of a night person and it was better this way. There weren't many people on the streets this night and thus the store was almost empty save for Deidre and the cashier.

She knew the cashier, not by name but by face, they were a faunas and it was noticeable by the pair of cat ears poking out from their multicolored hair. They were nice towards Deidre, and easy to talk to.

Tonight was no different, Deidre had walked in, the cashier greeted her and went back to reading the newspaper. When Deidre was done she would check out and head back to her apartment to continue work.

It was not like that now.

A man Deidre did not recognize had stepped into the store. The dark hood he wore was pulled over his head, hiding his face in shadows and his hands were shoved in the pocket of his hood. Deidre felt uneasy all of a sudden, she pressed herself close to the shelf behind her, hoping that he wouldn't see her.

The man approached the faunas at the checkout counter and said something Deidre couldn't understand, maybe she was just over reacting and he was asking for change or something. Then he pulled a gun out of his pocket.

Deidre's heart stopped in that moment, she nearly dropped her basket, instead setting it down on the ground gently as she edged towards the back of the store. She could see him more clearly now, and she could see strange floating symbols forming around the barrel of his gun and the frightened look on the faunas' face. Without thinking Deidre bolted forwards just as the man began to pull the trigger.

"No don't!" She cried, crashing into him, his glyphs flickered out of existence and his shot missed the faunas, allowing them to escape.

Deidre's chest seized up as the man held her by her shirt collar and lifted her off the store floor, anger and hatred burned in his eyes.

"Fucking faunas lover." He growled, his grip tightening as he swung her into the shelves, Deidre felt a burst of pain shoot up her spine as he held her there. One of her free hands reached up at the man's wrist, the other searched the shelves desperately for something, anything, to help her get away. When her hand came up empty is when Deidre began to panic.

She was going to die here.

The man raised his fist and waited, as if he was calling back his glyphs. When he didn't feel the familiar thrum of his semblance he looked at his fist in confusion.

"Get away from her!" The faunas screamed, bringing a metal bat over the man's head. His grip on Deidre broke as he fell to the ground unconscious, Deidre fell to her knees, coughing hard.

"You okay?" The faunas asked, grasping Deidre by the shoulders. Deidre took in deep breaths, but her heart still raced unevenly, it was then the faunas noticed the silver medical bracelet around Deidre's wrist.

"Help is already on the way." They assured, placing Deidre's arm over their shoulder and helping her stand, "I'm going to move you to a chair."

And they did, and Deidre was finding it easier to breath as she could no longer see the man on the floor. Help arrived, but not quickly as the man was starting to stir when the police entered the door led by a woman with pale blonde hair and a ragged black and purple cape. She sighed at the man and motioned for the police to take him away, once he was clear she lifted the riding crop Deidre just noticed she was carrying, and the air changed. There was a thrum of aura and then objects started putting themselves back in their places, perhaps if not a bit neater than before.

Deidre realized what she was, a huntress. She had seen this huntress before on the news after the Grimm invasion last year. Glynda Goodwitch.

Goodwitch looked at Deidre and the faunas, nodded her head silently and turned to leave. A paramedic team came in, surrounding Deidre quickly, the rest of the night quickly became a haze.

* * *

Two weeks later Deidre was in her apartment, typing away at her computer, she had false documents to make. Amongst those were passports for faunas families, with what had happened the year before it was becoming increasingly difficult for faunas to thrive in Vale. They suddenly found there were no jobs, businesses would throw them out onto the street, even police officers who were supposed to protect them were far too rough on faunas. Deidre was glad to get whoever she could out of Vale and to Vacuo where they would be safer.

She was just finishing up when a knock came at her door, Deidre saved everything and began to back it up on a hard drive, leaving her computer on the coffee table she stood up and walked to the door, it was probably a sales man or a neighbor who needed to borrow something.

When she opened the door that was not the case.

A man with silver hair and a green outfit stood there, accompanied by Glynda Goodwitch.

Deidre went numb, almost forgetting how to speak for a moment.

"H-hello. Can I help you with anything?" She asked shakily, willing her heart to steady itself.

"Yes, do you know where we can find Deidre Stone?" The silver haired man asked with a slight smile.

They had found her, Deidre was going to go to jail.

"That's me." She answered, heart racing.

The man and Goodwitch exchanged looks before looking back at her.

"Do you have a moment to talk?" The silver haired man asked, Deidre nodded her head and stepped aside, allowing both of them to enter her home. She lived in a small apartment that was scantily furnished, but it was home. Deidre just hoped that they wouldn't notice her computer, instead they waited for her to guide them into the kitchen.

Deidre sat across from the silver haired man while Goodwitch remained standing, she was intimidating that way, more than she already had been.

"I'd like to talk about this." The man held up a scroll, a video began playing and Deidre recognized herself lunging towards the man and his semblance flickering out of existence.

"I had to stop him." Deidre defended, "He would have killed them."

"We aren't here to discus why you did that, but how?"

"I don't understand."

"When we interrogated this man, he said that you had done something to his semblance. That he couldn't use it." The man explained, setting the scroll down and folding his hands on the table, "We want to know how."

"I-I don't…. I don't know how I did it." Deidre managed out, feeling panic begin to overflow.

"It's alright. Tell me about yourself." The silver haired man said, calming Deidre only a little, "I'm interested in your medical history."

Deidre stopped there, interested in medical history? Who was this man?

"Can I ask who you are first?"

"I am Professor Ozpin, the Headmaster of Beacon Academy." Ozpin introduced himself.

"Why are you so interested in my medical history?" Deidre asked, she needed answers before she gave her own.

"The ability to block one's semblance is unusual, I want to know if you've ever had your aura unlocked." Ozpin explained.

"I have had it unlocked, yes." Deidre answered, beginning to play with the medical bracelet on her wrist, "When I was seven, they wanted to see if unlocking my aura could help stabilize my heart. And it worked and I'm fine, as long as I don't do anything like that."

She motioned towards the scroll.

"Have you had combat training?"

"No."

"Ever considered combat school?"

"Never."

"Do you know what your semblance is?" This question caught Deidre off guard, she had never thought about having a semblance herself, most people went their whole lives without any idea of the potential powers they could have, let alone have access to their auras.

When Deidre was silent, Ozpin leaned forwards.

"I've only ever heard of a semblance that could disrupt others. This is a very dangerous ability to have."

Deidre's eyes widened.

"If word gets out about your semblance Ms. Stone, you'll be in great danger. Which is why I am personally extending to you an invitation to Beacon Academy." Ozpin leaned back, letting his words sink in.

Beacon Academy. A combat school. Did he not hear that she could not fight, or that she had no combative training whatsoever?

The safety was a bonus, Beacon was safe, Beacon was filled with future and current Hunters. Hell, Beacon was outfitted with a full medical facility and even offered basic field medicinal classes.

But she would have to fight, and Deidre wasn't sure she would make it passed the first day. The boy she had faked his transcripts for was lucky to have caught the eye of a world class fighter, but Deidre was sure that wouldn't be so lucky.

"I accept."

* * *

 **And the official first chapter is up and running. Like always, reviews are always welcome and needed! Until next time!**


	3. Chapter 2

So there Deidre was, in the middle of the courtyard of Beacon Academy, surrounded by future hunters years in the making. She felt out of place in her street clothes amongst the armor and combat grade clothed students. Even more out of place knowing that she was a special case, that when her classmates found out she would be shunned. Deidre didn't have spectacular combat grades, she didn't come from money, she was just some poor kid Ozpin picked up off the street.

And so she kept to herself, recognizing a few faces from the Vytal Festival Tournament last year. Silently she was glad she wouldn't have to fight in the tournament this year.

Following the crowd seemed the best thing to do, and Deidre did, making sure not to bum into anyone and keeping herself as little noticeable as possible. She found herself in an amphitheater surrounded by other fellow students, next to her was another girl around her height with short and choppy hair that was an uneven mixture of navy blue to neon blue and even teal. It was as if she had tried to dye it herself but it didn't turn out quite right. Her skin was dark and her ruby red eyes stuck out against it. Slung across her back was a sort of compact energy cannon, it was completely gray, and had a black strap that hung off her shoulders.

It seemed that the girl had noticed Deidre staring as she turned slightly and grinned.

"Like her? She may not look like much but she packs a punch."

"W-what?" Deidre almost stepped back.

"My weapon! She's called Bass Cannon." The girl explained, "Wait until you see her in action tomorrow!"

"Oh. Okay." Deidre said, trying to be friendly, "It- She. Looks really cool."

"Aw thanks, it took forever to calibrate the firing mechanism and don't even get me started on trying to find a metal that wouldn't deform when I- I'm getting ahead of myself. Name's Novella." The girl stuck out her hand for Deidre to shake, she shook it hesitantly, returning Novella's smile.

"I'm Deidre."

"Deidre? That's a cute name." Novella complimented, "So what's your weapon?"

"Oh um.." Deidre was caught off guard and thankful when Ozpin stepped up to the microphone and began to address the new students.

She took this time to get away from Novella, not that Novella wasn't nice. She was, it was just that Deidre didn't know how she would react to "I don't have a weapon" as an answer.

After a rather uneventful speech, Deidre followed the rest of the students to the ballroom, avoiding conversation with anyone else until tomorrow. With a sleeping bag in hand and having changed into her sleep wear, Deidre found herself searching for a place to set up for the night.

"Hey, the space next to me is clear!" A soft voice called to Deidre, drawing her attention to another girl with long pale pink hair and dark skin with blotches of pale white. She was sitting cross legged on her sleeping bag and motioning to the empty space next to her, a gentle smile on her face. When Deidre sat down the girl spoke up again.

"You looked a little lost for a moment."

"I was, thank you for the help." Deidre nodded, already feeling herself becoming nervous.

"My name's Rose Ivaldi." Rose introduced herself with a smile.

"Deidre."

"It's nice to meet you!" Rose's smile was bright and her voice was soft, calming Deidre down.

"So what do you think of Beacon so far?"

"It's… nice. To tell the truth I've never seen so many fighters in one place." Deidre answered.

"I can see that, it'll take some getting used to, but I think you'll be able to handle it." Rose responded, looking around the ballroom at their fellow classmates.

"What do you think of Beacon, Rose?" Deidre asked, curious about the girl in front of her.

"I like it, I can't wait until we form our teams."

"I hope they're as nice as you." Deidre said with a smile, "I've only just met you but I feel like we've been friends for years."

"Haha, I have that effect on people I guess." Rose grinned, "I hope they're nice too, and I hope you end up on a good team. Maybe we'll end up on the same team together."

"That'd be nice." Deidre felt warm inside, her heart was steady.

"Well, we should get some sleep. We're going to need all our energy for tomorrow!" Rose suggested, climbing into her sleeping bag, "Good night Deidre, sleep well."

Deidre nodded, following suit.

* * *

When she woke up, Deidre found herself alone. Not completely alone, there were still students in the ballroom, but Rose was gone. In her place was a neat hand written note in pink ink.

 _Went to breakfast! I'll try and save you a spot!_

 _-Rose_

Deidre turned the note over and back before getting up and packing her things up, she found that some students had put their sleeping bags in a neat pile near the entrance. She placed her sleeping bag there and held her own duffle bag tightly to her chest, looking for a bathroom to change in. When she found one, Deidre slipped in and out as quick as she could, taking a moment to look over herself in the mirror.

Deidre was nearly 6'3 and stick thin with almost sickly pale skin, her lips were thin and dark and her nose was curved. Her eyes were a stone gray and her hair was a dull burgundy color that fell to her shoulders, she had almost forgotten to tie it back in a ponytail. She didn't have much in the way of combat clothes, something she would have to remedy the next time she was in Vale. Her clothes were comfortable, a gray tee shirt with dark blue skinny jeans and gray boots that ended halfway up her calves. Her medical bracelet hung off her wrist like always, a constant reminder that she could die at any moment.

Leaving the bathroom, Deidre searched for the cafeteria, following a group of students wearing the school uniform. Deidre searched for Rose amongst the students, finding her sitting with other students, an empty spot next to her.

Deidre got her food first before joining Rose at the table, Rose noticed her instantly and introduced her to her other friends.

There was a brown haired girl with amber eyes and brown cat ears, Rose introduced her as Hana Woods. Next to Hana was her twin, Erin. It appeared that Erin didn't have faunas features, but that didn't stop them from being open about it, they were happy that Deidre had joined them.

"We should get going, Erin and I have class in a bit and Professor Oobleck always starts on time." Hana grinned, Deidre noticed that she was wearing the school uniform. So they weren't in their grade after all.

"Alright, see you later guys." Rose smiled, waving them off, she turned to Deidre, "Sleep well?"

"Yeah, you?"

"Pretty well."

After they had finished breakfast, Rose and Deidre walked into the armory. Rose's locker wasn't that far from Deidre's, but it was far enough that Rose wouldn't be able to see that Deidre lacked a weapon.

Rose had changed into her combat clothes, which were simple and cute. Fitting for Rose, Deidre thought. From the bottom up Rose wore pink Mary Janes, white shorts with a sleeveless white blouse and a pale pink hooded cardigan, completing her outfit was a thick white leather belt that had matching pouches and loops for her weapon.

When Rose pulled out her weapon, Deidre was confused, it was an instrument case. Not one someone would have for science, but for a musical instrument. It was long, but not as long as a guitar case. Rose didn't open the case, instead she reached back into her locker and pulled out instrument bows and small rectangular boxes marked with different colored tape. She would open a box and scratch the colored material with the base of the bow and then run the material agains the bow hairs.

"It's dust infused rosin." Rose explained, noticing Deidre's confusion. She finished up preparing her bows and put them in the loops on her belt, tucking the dust infused rosin away into the pouches on her belt.

Before Deidre could speak a young man wearing the school uniform approached her, she felt she recognized him from somewhere but couldn't place where.

"Deidre Stone?" He asked, looking between the two of them.

"That's me." Deidre spoke up, Rose was just closing her locker, having slung the instrument case over her shoulder.

"Ozpin told me to find you. Come with me."

Deidre stood and looked back at Rose.

"I'll catch up with you." She promised, earning a nod from Rose. Following the older boy, Deidre found herself walking passed the lockers in the armory and into a small room filled with weapons.

"He said you could pick out a weapon and that yours would be repaired after initiation." The boy explained, motioning to the various weapons laid out across the tables and against the walls, he crossed his arms and leaned against the doorframe, watching lazily as Deidre looked through the room. There was a stifling silence that blanketed the room, making her uncomfortable.

"What year are you in?" She asked, trying to initiate conversation to ease the awkwardness.

"I'm one year above you."

"So second year?"

"Yes." The boy sighed, rolling his eyes.

"So um. What's your team name?" Deidre picked up a set of dual pistols with bayonets and set them down, she had no idea how to fire a gun.

"C-R-D-L." He spelled out, "Cardinal. I'm the team leader."

Deidre stopped, she knew who he was.

"You're Cardin Winchester. I saw you last year at the tournament."

"Who didn't?" He scoffed, "You almost done? As much as I like missing class I have things to do."

Deidre glanced around the room, searching quickly for something she could pick up easily, that wouldn't get her too close but not too far. In the corner of her eye she saw it, a long pole with a sharp blade on the end. A Glaive. Deidre had seen one before, it had been used in the tournament.

She picked it up gingerly, weighing it in her hands, it felt right, if not a bit heavy.

"I'm done." Deidre said, turning towards Cardin.

"Finally." He sighed, standing up, "Come on, I'll take you to the rest of your class."

"I thought you had things to do." Deidre replied, following him out, she was feeling pretty confident about now. Maybe it was the adrenaline from having a weapon making her that way, she wasn't sure.

"Yeah well, I'd rather be here than with Port."

* * *

 **Second chapter is up! I've been trying to make these chapters longer little by little and develop more of Deidre's character.  
** **Like always, reviews are always helpful and gladly appreciated! Till next time!**


	4. Chapter 3

Cardin had led her all the way to the cliffs in silence, the confidence Deidre had been feeling in the armory had all melted away, leaving her nearly shaking as she stood on the stone plate bearing the academy crest. She could see Rose just a few spots down and tried and failed to get her attention.

Ozpin and Glynda stood before the long line of first years, the edge of the cliff behind them and the seemingly endless expanse of the Emerald Forest below them.

"The first person you make eye contact with will be your partner for the next four years." Ozpin explained, "You and your partner will traverse the forest to a temple and retrieve a relic, then you will come back here and hold your position. Now get ready, any questions?"

Deidre looked down the line and saw other first years crouching down, Rose had reached back at the latches on her case. Beyond Rose, other students were being launched into the air one by one. She spotted Novella amongst the ones soaring through the air already and grew nervous, how would she be landing? Her grip on the glaive tightened, she could stab it into a tree, but there was no guarantee she would be able to get to a tree. She could try and catch herself in the foliage, but Deidre had never climbed a tree before, how would she get down?

Before she could have come up with a landing strategy, Deidre found herself launched into the air, the shock of the plate launching her rushed through her body and made her heart beat fast.

She was soaring through the air, and she was afraid, she was screaming as she began to fall towards the forest floor. Just as she was about to hit the ground, something soft and black broke her fall and she passed out for a moment.

* * *

Rose stood on the thick tree branch, overlooking the Emerald Forest and searching for where Deidre fell. Stirling rested on her shoulder, an impact dust bow hung loosely in her hand. She spotted Deidre falling and disappearing into the thick emerald foliage.

"There." Rose muttered to herself, bringing the bow to Stirling and stepping off the tree branch onto a glyph. She drew the bow across the string and found herself launching in the direction of Deidre.

* * *

When Deidre awoke she found herself lying on the forest floor, her borrowed glaive stuck into the ground point down. She sat up slowly, cringing at the sharp pain in her side, her heart felt heavy and it hurt to breath. Grasping the glaive's shaft, Deidre used it to stand up, gasping at the pain and breathing heavily, her head throbbed and her vision swam for a moment.

"Okay, lets move." She willed herself forwards, shakily taking a step, and another and another, using the glaive to help her walk. Deidre wasn't sure how she had survived the landing, or what had saved her in the end, but she thought she saw where Rose hand landed, and if she could just get to her.

Deidre stopped to catch her breath for a moment before pressing on. She had never seen a creature of Grimm before, and she wasn't about to see one in her state. Let alone fight one.

She stumbled through the Emerald Forest, stopping to catch her breath every so often. It was difficult for Deidre to move through the thick brushes and as every minute passed she began to feel more and more afraid, she wasn't finding anyone. Ideas ran through her head, what if she didn't find a partner? What if she died in the Emerald Forest? What if she did find a partner and they left her?

Deidre stumbled out of the forest and into a small clearing, nearly losing her footing from the change in terrain. The clearing was brightly lit by the sun and there wasn't a cloud in the sky, there was hardly a breeze in the forest that day. Yet the clearing was cold, heavy, desolate. Deidre felt an odd pressure wash over her entire body, her head began to throb more than it had before and her heart felt heavier.

Was it just her or were the shadows darker?

Deidre pushed herself into the center of the clearing where she got the feeling she wasn't alone. Looking around, Deidre found herself surrounded by burning red eyes. Her heart was racing and her whole body was shaking as she tried to hold the glaive out in front of her. The weapon felt heavy and the blade on the end quivered, glinting in the sunlight as Deidre held it out before her. She didn't even know how to use it.

The first Grimm came bursting out of the shadows, its black wolf like body was covered by white bone protruding from its back in spikes. Deidre had to get out of the way, but her whole body had froze and her legs refused to move. The Grimm was almost upon her when it was suddenly knocked to the side, crashing to the ground just behind Deidre. She turned and looked at the Grimm, finding that an arrow had punctured it's side, smoke rose from the corpse as the body began to fade away.

Another roar was cut off by a sharp twang, Deidre whipped around, finding another Grimm body on the ground, a similar arrow in its skull. Two more arrows pierced through the air and two more Grimm fell, the trees rustled and Deidre felt a sense of relief wash over her. Someone had found her.

"Aren't you going to fight?" A girl's voice called from the trees, an arrow shot from the foliage at another Grimm, "I'm running low on arrows here."

The voice was coming from a different location, who ever the archer was, she was moving fast. Deidre turned around, looking for the source of the voice, Grimm were pouring out of the shadows only to be taken down by the archer's arrows.

Soon the clearing fell silent and the gleaming red eyes vanished from the shadows, yet the archer didn't come from the trees and the heavy feeling was beginning to subside.

"Do you hear that?" The voice from the trees asked, branches rustled and something heavy hit the ground. The archer stepped out from the trees, icy blue eyes glaring at Deidre. Deidre tried to listen closely, the forest was silent save for a few gunshots and explosions far off.

"No I-"

"That's the sound of you not listening to your partner." The archer snapped, strutting up to Deidre, "If you had the slightest bit of communication in that battle maybe we wouldn't be wasting time."

Deidre froze again, heat rising to her face, she had seen this girl before. Her hair was pale blonde and tumbled in curls down her back, she had pale skin and a pretty face. The girl wore a pale blue jumpsuit that was sleeveless and had short pants legs, her heeled boots matched the jumpsuit and a white mini jacket was tied around her waist. Completing the outfit was a white quiver that was now empty, the bow the quiver belonged to was gripped tightly in their left hand.

The girl sighed, the scowl on her face melted away and she rested one hand on her hip.

"Well, since we'll be partners. I'm-"

"Celeste Aria." Deidre interrupted, she had seen her on posters for opera shows, ads online, even featured on a magazine cover once.

"Oh. So you know who I am." Celeste huffed, "Aren't you going to tell me who you are?"

"R-right! I'm Deidre."

"Is there a last name?"

"Stone, Deidre Stone." Deidre said her name, being near Celeste was intimidating, even more so that her eyes still had their glare.

"Let's move, Stone." Celeste ordered, turning and walking ahead of Deidre, hardly allowing her partner to catch up to her.

* * *

Ozpin stood on the cliff overlooking the Emerald Forest, his scroll in hand and the screen displaying the progress of made student pairs. Currently the screen displayed Deidre Stone and Celeste Aria, an interesting pair, but one Ozpin had hoped for since he had discovered Deidre.

Behind him Goodwitch approached, her own scroll displaying the new partnerships.

"The last pair has been formed, Rose Ivaldi and Novella Navy." Goodwitch stated, not looking up from her scroll as she stopped at Ozpin's side.

"I see that Ms. Aria has been partnered with Ms. Stone. I don't care what her semblance is. That girl is not fit for Beacon." Glynda continued, flicking through the screens on her scroll.

Ozpin grunted, acknowledging the comment, not pealing his eyes away from the scroll's screen.

* * *

"Stone! Behind you!" Celeste cried, whipping around and firing an arrow at the Beowolf behind Deidre, who was struggling to get her glaive out of the corpse of another Beowolf. They had encountered a rather small pack and Celeste wanted to test Deidre's abilities.

She was less than pleased.

"Do you even know how to fight?" Celeste sighed, crossing her arms. Deidre struggled with the glaive. Celeste stomped over, grasping it around the shaft and ripping it out of the corpse, thrusting the glaive into Deidre's arms.

"If you're going to be my partner you have to act like it."

Celeste whipped around, gathering her arrows and stalking off towards the forest temple, they could see it just over the tree line.

Deidre picked up the pace to catch up with Celeste, feeling horrible she wasn't able to fight like Celeste. She knew that Celeste knew she had never gone to combat school. Deidre knew that the moment initiation was over, she was going right home. If she lived.

Deidre stopped, noticing that Celeste was far ahead of her, in fact, her partner was probably at the Forest Temple already. She picked up the pace, stumbling out of the tree line and nearly crashing into Celeste who stood there petrified. Deidre was confused, until she saw what was going on near the forest temple.

A gigantic creature made of stone was looming over the Forest Temple, its gigantic arms swung about, tossing moss and dirt everywhere.

"What's a Golem doing so close to Beacon!?" Celeste growled, drawing her bow, the air felt heavy, but not the heaviness Deidre felt when there were Grimm. It was a different feeling, and it made her feel strong.

"Looks like there's people fighting it, get ready Stone!"

* * *

 **And chapter 3 is done! I feel like I've glanced over initiation, but there's more to come next chapter!**  
 **Like always, reviews are gladly appreciated. If you have any suggestions for what I can do to improve upon this story, please leave a review down below!**  
 **Till next time! ^_^**


	5. Chapter 4

The odd feeling of strength quickly left Deidre when Celeste dashed towards the Grimm, one hand already drawing an arrow from her quiver and readying it on her bow string. Deidre strained to see who was fighting the Grimm already, someone wearing a lot of blue and, Deidre skid to a halt, Rose.

Rose hovered on a white glyph, a silver skeletal violin rested on her shoulder and one of her bow's was pressed to the strings, Deidre could faintly hear the song she was playing before Rose launched away from the Grimm and landed on the ground.

Deidre felt a surge of adrenaline course through her and raced towards Rose and the Grimm, she wasn't as fast as Celeste, nor was she as skilled at fighting as Celeste, but Rose and her partner needed all the help they could get. Just as Deidre was catching up to Celeste, a beam of energy crashed into the Grimm's stone shoulder, sending the Grimm stumbling back as its arm crumbled away, tearing vines and moss off its body as it went. Not long after the energy beam had faded, a shockwave hit Deidre full on like a wall.

She fell to her knees, her heart beating erratically and her vision beginning to grow hazy. Deidre could hear the Grimm's ear splitting war cry at the loss of its arm, she could feel the vibrations the stone caused when it hit the ground. Yet she couldn't move, not even when the Grimm turned towards her, its gleaming red eyes locked on her. Deidre heard her name being called as the Grimm loomed over her, one fist raised and just coming down when all of a sudden Deidre saw the clear blue sky and then a ceiling made of stone.

"Dust! What's wrong now!" Celeste demanded, her voice sounded quieter than usual.

"Aren't you going to say thank you?" A more familiar voice responded sharply, it felt close and Deidre realized she was being held by the owner of that voice. Her entire chest hurt and each breath she took sent waves of sharp pain through her heart.

"Why should I? It was obviously you two who got into this mess!"

"Oh really, princess? I didn't leave my partner to-"

"Enough!" Rose's voice cut through the argument, her face came into view, concern etched across it, "Can't you see she needs help?"

Wherever they were fell silent, save for the thunderous boom of the golem outside.

"You're right." Celeste took a deep breath and released it, "We need to end this quickly."

There was the shuffling of fabric and Rose's face fell out of view.

"This should keep her stable for the moment."

Deidre wondered what was going to happen until a hand rested across her chest gently, she strained to look and saw that it belonged to Celeste. Deidre found it easier to breathe at that moment and the pain was beginning to melt away as her aura worked at fixing her heart beat, and then Celeste's hand was gone.

"What did you do?" The third girl asked, still obviously irritated at Celeste.

"I used my semblance to amplify her aura, it should be starting to her now."

A scarf was placed under Deidre's head and she felt the Grimm approaching.

"Shit." The third girl swore, "Get me close enough and I could blast that thing to hell!"

"Not with that armor, look."

Deidre turned her head, she could see the golem just outside of the stone alcove they had taken cover in, it had a thick bone plate across its chest.

"We need a strategy." Celeste said, motioning towards the other too, "And I know just how we'll destroy that Golem."

* * *

Celeste was the first to dash out of the alcove, Seraph's bowstring pulled and an explosive arrow aimed at the Golem. She released the bowstring, the arrow shot towards the Golem, exploding on contact. Drawing another arrow, Celeste dashed out of sight, forcing the Golem to keep turning.

At the same time, Rose took one last look at Deidre before her partner took her around the waist and rocketed the two of them out of the alcove and towards the main temple. They skid to a halt, letting Rose get her footing on the ancient stone floor, she had to get this right. Reaching at her waist, Rose switched her bows, she had been using an impact bow before to get away, now she picked out a bow that had a small icy blue tipped screw and rested it onto her string.

Rose channeled her aura into the instrument and focused on the open field ahead of her, Celeste was steadily getting the Golem towards the center of the open field right in the middle of Rose's sights, but she knew Celeste would be running out of arrows soon.

"Get ready." She told her partner, watching them from the corner of her eye as they crouched down, energy cannon starting to charge. The Golem was almost in the center, Rose pulled the bow across the string, the fingers on her left hand already weaving together a song that formed the large frost glyph before the Golem. The Golem stepped on it, and ice erupted around its leg, trapping it in place.

Rose nearly dropped her ice dust bow when she reached for her impact bow, she played out a speed glyph that brought Celeste towards them and brought the flow of her song to a large multilayered impact glyph next to her. Celeste skid to a halt just behind the glyph and drew as many arrows as she could.

"Ready?" Celeste asked, glancing at Rose and her partner.

Rose's partner dashed forwards and sped into the glyph, turning around just before she crashed into it so that when the glyph caught her she was the right direction.

"Ready!" Her partner shouted, glaring at the Golem, her energy cannon fully charged now as she slammed an extra crystal of energy dust into the cartridge at the top, the cannon's light gleamed an electric blue.

"Go!" Rose shouted, Celeste released her arrows, they pierced through the glyphs and sped towards the Golem's chest plate. The arrows stuck out of the chest plate, unmoving as the Golem turned its attention from its trapped leg to the three hunters-in-training standing in the temple before it. Celeste grabbed Rose's shoulder and Rose felt a surge of energy pass through her as she played, the glyph at her side grew in size and power with her song.

Then suddenly, she stopped the song and the glyph shot her partner towards the Golem and top speeds. Rose and Celeste stumbled back, out of breath and watching as Rose's partner landed on the Golem's chest plate with a crash, gripping to the arrows, she stuck her energy cannon into a dent made on the chest piece. She pulled the trigger and was almost launched backwards at the force of the blast her energy cannon caused as it ripped through the Golem's body and gouged a deep trench in the battle scared field.

The Golem fell backwards, crashing to the ground with an earth shattering crash.

Rose caught her breath, taking a moment to look over at Celeste and give her a thumbs up. They were right by the relics, which appeared to be small stone carvings of the moon phases, some were painted red or black or white and there were some already missing.

"Deidre!" Rose suddenly shouted, running back over towards the alcove, Deidre laid there unmoving, her chest rising and falling evenly but her breathing uneven and shallow.

"Grab your relic!" Celeste told Rose's partner as she grabbed a random relic, not bothering to check which phase she had actually grabbed. She ran towards Deidre and Rose, falling to her knees at Deidre's side and placing her hand on Deidre's cheek.

"We're going to get you out of here." Was all Deidre heard before she slipped out of consciousness.

* * *

Deidre awoke sometime later in a hospital bed, hooked up to monitors and an IV stuck in her arm, the IV ran up to a clear bag filled with a clear liquid. She tried to sit up, but found herself stopped by Rose's arm.

"Don't strain yourself." Rose said softly, "I'll help you up."

"No. I'm fine, thank you." Deidre sighed, laying back down, "What happened?"

"My partner saved you from being crushed by that Golem earlier, the doctor says you were having a heart attack, but you should be fine before the ceremony tonight." Rose explained with a soft smile.

"Ceremony?"

* * *

"Celeste Aria, Novella Navy, Deidre Stone, Rose Ivaldi." Ozpin said their names clearly and calmly, each girl approached the stage and stood in the order he had called out, as had every other team who had been named thus far had done. Their pictures were illuminated upon the holographic screen above Ozpin's head, their first initial beneath each picture, spelling out their team name.

 _C-N-D-R_

"The four of you retrieved the Harvest Moon Relics, from this day forth you will be known as team Cinder. Led by," Ozpin took a pause, "Celeste Aria."

Celeste looked surprised and pleased with the appointment, Rose had leaned over and was congratulating her and Novella didn't seem pleased at all. Deidre wasn't sure what to think, but followed her new team off the stage.

It was going to be a long year.

* * *

 **I feel like I glossed over the combat. ( _I'll admit it's not my speciality and I hope I get the chance to improve upon it as I write this fic_.) Anyways, sorry it took me a little while to write this chapter, I'm finally on break and should hopefully be getting two more chapters written for this before I return to school for finals. **

**Like always, reviews are gladly appreciated and constructive criticism is always welcome.**

 **Till next time!**


	6. Chapter 5

"Stone! Flank it on the left, I'll take the right!" Celeste shouted from across the combat field, launching an arrow at one of the holographic Grimm projected onto the combat field. Deidre raced to flank the Grimm, unsure of what she was doing and glaive held tightly. The space beyond the field was pitch black, but Deidre knew that her fellow classmates were watching, judging, anticipating what team CNDR would do next.

Celeste was a natural, it had only been two weeks since she was appointed team leader, but in that time she had put together several tactics for her team. Although, Novella seemed to hold a grudge against her.

"Look out!" Rose cried, landing before Deidre, a glyph shielding a blow from the holographic Beowolf that would have surely sent Deidre out of the match.

"Stone, keep your head straight!"

Deidre took a deep breath as Rose leapt away, bow to her violin strings and fingers working away at a song. Novella was… somewhere, Deidre had lost sight of her earlier on in the battle. She was brought out of her thoughts when the Beowolf struck at her again, this time she caught it's claws with the shaft of the glaive. Although it was a hologram, its strength felt real to Deidre who struggled under it's weight. She felt strength overcome her and pushed back, pushing the Grimm off of the shaft and slashing the blade across its chest. The hologram flickered out of existence just as a loud buzz filled the air, signaling the match over.

"That was awesome Deidre!" Rose commented with a smile, skipping over and taking Deidre's hands in her own, Stirling hung at her waist.

"That was…. Exceptional." Celeste sighed as she passed her two teammates, "CNDR, change and head to the dorms. I have things to do."

And with that, Celeste was gone and in her place was Novella who looked less than pleased.

"She's not even going to try to work with us is she?" Novella huffed, crossing her arms and shifting her weight onto one leg as she looked at Deidre and Rose.

Rose shifted awkwardly, letting go of Deidre's hands.

"Maybe she's just not used to people?" Rose offered uneasily, not meeting Novella's gaze.

"All I'm saying is that if she's going to be our leader, she has to act like it."

"What do you mean?" Deidre asked.

"She doesn't call us by our names, she barks out orders and she never spends time with us outside of class." Novella listed off, raising a finger to count the reasons, "A leader should be getting to know her team, not telling them what to do."

"It's only been two weeks, Novella." Rose explained, resting a hand on Novella's shoulder, "She could just be nervous, I mean. None of us have ever worked in teams like this before right? I think we should support her in any way we can."

"She should at least spend time with us then." Novella defended, holding up her hands, "Anyways, I'm going to change, what do you say we go and get a bite to eat after this?"

"Sounds good to me." Rose nodded, "What do you say Deidre?"

"Uh… sure!" Deidre answered, the concept of having lunch with friends was new to her.

"Alright! I know this great noodle place nearby!" Novella grinned, "I'll pay, my treat!"

* * *

Deidre had changed into her school uniform and met with Novella and Deidre, whom had changed into clothes outside of their combat clothes and uniforms.

Rose wore a simple white v-neck with a pale pink skirt and a pink knitted cardigan, she finished the outfit with a pair of ballet flats. Novella on the other hand had changed into a bright neon blue tank top and a pair of rather short black shorts, there was a navy blue infinity scarf wrapped around her neck.

"Is that all you have to wear?" Novella asked, looking Deidre up and down.

"Uh, yeah…" Deidre answered, heat rising to her face and her heart beat starting to pick up it's pace.

"No need to be embarrassed about it! We can go clothing shopping afterwards!" Novella offered, a wild grin on her face.

"That would be nice." Rose smiled, "We could get her better combat armor while we're out."

"That's a great idea Rose!"

"Y-you don't have to." Deidre protested, it was true she didn't have other clothes to change into, she had been planning on dropping by her apartment to pick up a few extra sets of clothes.

"Nah, I insist Deidre." Novella waved her off, how was she alright with this?

"I think it'll be a great opportunity to get to know each other." Rose clapped her hands together and Deidre sighed.

"Alright."

"O-kay!" Novella grinned, "So, lets get food first!"

* * *

They had taken the airship to the City of Vale where Deidre felt even more out of place in her uniform. The restaurant Novella had taken Rose and Deidre to was small, but the food was cheep and delicious in Deidre's opinion, she had tried to pay Novella back in the lien but had the money given back to her.

"My treat." She explained with a wink.

Clothing shopping had gone much the same, they had stopped at several small boutiques intended to cater to Hunters and Hunters-in-training. Rose and Novella each chose out outfits for Deidre, consulting with the salesclerk at the counter while Deidre browsed the selections. There was everything from ornate gun holsters to dust infused combat boots to even blast proof combat skirts.

Finally they had settled on an outfit for Deidre just as she was examining a pair of matching leather holsters.

"Deidre, try this on!" Novella called out to her, dumping the outfit into Deidre's arms and pushing her towards a changing room in the back of the store. The door behind Deidre closed and she sighed, laying the outfit out on the bench provided in the room. It was… an interesting choice for Deidre to say the least. She pulled off her uniform blazer and began to change into the outfit.

When she looked in the mirror, Deidre could hardly recognize herself. The outfit consisted of a pair of off black skinny jeans, brown knee high boots and a stone grey tee-shirt. It was almost like the combat clothes she wore at Beacon, save for the black corset like wrap around her abdomen and the heavy looking wine red pirate coat. She turned around in the mirror, craning her neck to see the back of the coat, a simple cream colored ribbon was tied into a bow in the small of her back, it looked like the ribbon could be replaced easily. The fit was nice and comfortable, surprisingly the outfit was lightweight.

"Are you done yet Deidre?" Deidre could hear Novella call from the other side of the door.

"O-oh, yeah!" Deidre replied, a little louder than she had intended to. She opened the door of the room and stepped out into the store.

"You look so amazing Deidre!" Novella chirped, jumping up from the chair she sat on to walk around Deidre and examine her from all angles.

"It's really cute!" Novella continued, "Plus the fabric is specially made to withstand Beowolf claws."

"I like it." Deidre nodded, "It's comfortable, but I'm not sure its really me."

"Nonsense, its really you!"

Deidre glanced around the store, finding that Rose was missing from it.

"Where did-"

"Rose go? She said she was going to get something from the next store over- oh look there she is."

Novella pointed to the front window and indeed there was Rose with a grin on her face and motioning towards a plastic bag in her hand, Deidre couldn't read the writing on it, but she could see the distinct box shape inside it.

"Let's pay up and join her okay? I'll pay."

"Wait you're going to pay? You don't have to I could-" Novella held up a hand, stopping Deidre from protesting further.

"My. Treat. Deidre." She adamantly said, holding up a credit card with a smile on her lips.

Novella paid for the clothes while Deidre felt terrible the whole time, she didn't need new combat clothes and she could have paid on her own.

* * *

When the shopping was said and done they returned to the airship station, waiting for the next ship back to Beacon.

"So where did you end up going Rose?" Novella asked, crossing her arms above her head and leaning against the station wall.

"Oh, I went to this cute little bakery down the street." Rose explained, looking down at the bag, "See they just opened and they had some really good looking cake there, so I figured I'd get one and support the business."

"Oh. Cool." Novella nodded.

"Mhm! And the best part is they hire faunas!"

"No way really?" Deidre asked, "What's the name of this place?"

"Its, Ginger House Bakery." Rose answered.

"That's awesome, I actually live in a neighborhood with a lot of faunas-" Deidre blurted, stopping herself before she said too much. She wasn't quite ready to share her personal life with her teammates yet.

"Really?" Novella asked, "I never thought you would have lived-"

"What are you three doing here!?"

The three of them turned to see a less than pleased Celeste stomping towards them, she looked tired.

"Getting to know each other, unlike you." Novella huffed, crossing her arms against her chest.

"What's that supposed to mean, Navy?"

"All I'm saying is that maybe you should get to know your teammates and you know, actually work with them rather than bossing us around?"

"How dare you!"

"Oh did I hurt your feelings princess?"

"You are acting like a child!"

"Am I now?"

"Yes!" Celeste screamed, "You are! You have been nothing but childish, uncoordinated and uncooperative! I'm appalled by how badly your parents raised you! Didn't they teach you respect?"

Novella went limp in that moment, her anger melted away from her face and her eyes grew distant and cold.

"What did you say?" Novella demanded, her voice little more than a hoarse whisper.

Celeste leaned back, her own anger fell away quickly as she realized her mistake.

"Novella, I didn't mean to I-"

"We're done talking." Novella sharply said, pushing past Rose and Deidre with her head down.

"Novella!" Celeste called, moving to grab Novella. Rose caught Celeste by the wrist.

"Let her go."

Deidre turned and raced towards Novella awkwardly in the boots she had just gotten.

"Hey! Wait up!" She called, almost at Novella.

"Just leave me alone!" Novella shouted back, her voice wavered and Deidre skid to a halt. Was she crying?

She watched Novella leave the station and realized their ship back had just arrived, taking one last look at the direction Novella had gone off in, Deidre reluctantly turned and rejoined Celeste and Rose.

* * *

 **This chapter was actually really fun to write, sorry it took so long though I ran into a minor writers block. Anyways, new chapter.**  
 **Like always, reviews and constructive criticism is always welcome!**  
 **Till next time!**


	7. Chapter 6

The ride back to Beacon had been quiet and awkward, Deidre felt out of place the whole time. Celeste hadn't said a word to either of them the whole time and Rose was unsure what to say that could lighten the mood.

When the team returned to their dorms, Celeste simply announced she was going to bed. Rose placed the cake in the mini-fridge Novella had brought with her and changed into her night clothes. Rose glanced at Deidre with concerned eyes before laying down on her own bed.

Deidre couldn't sleep, she sat on the window ledge watching the clouds pass over head. She had tried to get ahold of Novella through her scroll, but found her messages unanswered. Maybe Novella had her scroll turned off, maybe it had died.

It was nearly two in the morning when the door opened quietly and Novella came in, Deidre moved to get up and great her but Novella held up a hand.

"Could we.. talk?" Novella asked in a whisper.

"Yeah." Deidre responded, grabbing the sweater off her bed and following Novella out into the hall. Novella ended up taking her up to the rooftop where Deidre shivered, it was a cold night.

Novella sat on the edge of the rooftop and patted the space next to her, Deidre sat down wordlessly and accepted the unopened can of iced tea from Novella, who was opening her own can.

"It's half and half, try it." Novella explained, taking a sip of iced tea.

Deidre opened it and sipped hesitantly, keeping her eyes off the long way down.

They sat in silence for what seemed like ever.

"I'm sorry you had to see that." Novella sighed, "I know, I was the one who started it."

Deidre was silent, unsure of what to say.

"I… Just, when she said that about my parents I wanted to hurt her so badly. I didn't know my parents growing up, my brother was the one who raised me."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"I don't need pity now, it was a very long time ago." Novella sighed, "Anyways, I grew up struggling to make ends meet with my brother until he landed a stable job. I always thought my parents would have been proud of me."

Again, Deidre remained silent, urging Novella to continue.

"So when I met Celeste, I hated her. Here's this girl who came from the lap of luxury, who never had to struggle in her life, who got her every want and need tended to. And suddenly I have to work with her." Novella took a sip of tea, "Maybe if I had just been nicer to her, then what happened earlier wouldn't have happened."

Deidre was going to say something, but a new voice cut them off.

"Novella. I'm so sorry." Celeste stood in the doorway leading into the dorms, "Even if I had known you were- what I did was uncalled for."

Novella was silent and Celeste took that as a sign to continue.

"You know, you are a great fighter…. and I suppose I can be…" Celeste glanced away, searching for words, "Difficult to work with, but if we're going to be a team we both need to work together. So what do you say, teammates?"

Novella looked at her for a moment before she sighed.

"Teammates."

* * *

Short chapter but eh.  
So, the year is ending and tomorrow will be the new year. Here's to a better year for all of you!


	8. Chapter 7

Deidre had never been outside of Vale before, Beacon was an entirely new experience. Yet the Forest of Forever Fall was something Deidre could have only seen in dreams, crimson red leaves glided down to the forest floor and a pink sky was spread overhead. There was the ever present smell of earth mixed with the sweet scent of the tree sap.

As team CNDR walked with their classmates through the forest, Deidre felt an ever present feeling of Grimm watching her. She sighed and thought back to earlier that morning.

 _She sat across from Ozpin at his desk, the ever turning great cogs of his office were the only noises that broke the silence between them. Ozpin turned his chair around and met eyes with Deidre._

 _"How are you finding Beacon? Is your team treating you well?" He asked calmly, taking a sip of coffee from the mug on his desk._

 _"I-I'm… It's nice. Different. From what I'm used to doing." Deidre answered, her voice shaking slightly, "My team is treating me well… they've been helping me learn to fight."_

 _"Do they know about your conditions?" "My conditions?" Deidre sat up, heart thumping, "They don't know…. not yet. Should I- should I tell them?"_

"Are you okay Deidre?" Celeste's voice brought Deidre out of her thoughts, she looked up from the ground and found that she had fallen behind the rest of the students.

"O-oh. I'm fine. Thank you for checking up on me." Deidre lied, looking towards her classmates, "We should catch up before they get too far."

Celeste nodded, letting Deidre walk ahead of her while they caught up.

"The Forest of Forever Fall is really beautiful, isn't it Deidre?" Celeste asked, looking to her side at the brilliant red leaves that glided to the forest floor.

Deidre took a good look around her, the sky was seemingly an endless expanse of cerulean blue and she wondered what it was like at twilight in the forest. Would the air be ablaze with a pink hue that matched the sky?

"I've only ever seen this in photos and in recreations for the stage." Celeste continued, bringing Deidre out of her trance.

"That's right, you do opera."

"Much more than opera actually. I do theater, commercials, choir. Oh and sometimes I help out musicians by recording vocals." Celeste explained with a smile.

"Wow… I could never do that." Deidre sighed.

"You could! You've got a pretty speaking voice!" Celeste responded quickly, looking surprised at Deidre, "I mean you might need some training in order to use it to your full advantage, but I think you'd be good where you are at."

A pang in Deidre's heart caused her to look away, there was Celeste's backhanded compliments. She was getting better at not using them… at least directly.

"What I'm trying to say is, I think you could sing." Celeste clarified, taking a deep breath.

"I… thank you."

Deidre looked at Celeste, feeling closer than ever to her partner. Sure they were still working through some kinks in their teamwork, but their relationship was getting better.

"I should tell her." She thought to herself, taking a breath of the crisp Forever Fall air and steeling herself.

"Celeste, there's something I need to tell you."

"Oh? What would that be Deidre?"

"Celeste I…. I… well…. I actually." Deidre searched for the right words, her mind had gone blank and her tongue felt heavy.

Luckily, Goodwitch spoke up before Deidre could say anything further.

"You've all been assigned to collect one jar of tree sap for Professor Peach, remember, this forest is crawling with Grimm. Stay close to your partners, we'll meet back here in three hours."

"Come on, lets go." Celeste said, taking Deidre's hand and guiding her towards the rest of their team.

* * *

Collecting the sap wasn't as difficult as Deidre had originally thought, it was the sneezing that made it hard. It appeared that both Deidre and Rose were allergic to the something in the forest and were both beginning to react to it.

Novella took one look at them both and sighed, shaking her head and crossing her arms. She pointed towards a grove and picked up the box of glass jars they had been assigned.

"Wait there, I'll take care of this." Novella ordered, Rose giving a short 'thank you' as she passed her.

Novella was quite adept at getting the sap into the jars, with her hand not a drop was lost. Celeste watched over her shoulder, curiously watching Novella's techniques.

"You're a natural at this, Navy."

"Thanks?"

"Where did you learn to harvest tree sap?"

"Oh, every summer I would go and help out on a bee farm, sap harvesting isn't much different than getting honey out of a bee hive."

"Wow, that's really cute!" Celeste suddenly commented in a burst of joy, Novella almost dropping the jar she was working with out of shock.

"Did you ever get to bring a jar home?" Celeste asked, leaning further over Novella's shoulders.

"Sometimes yeah, it depended on how much we were able to harvest before the end of summer."

"That's so cute! It's like a little folk tale!"

Novella looked even more stunned to see this side of Celeste, was she even talking to the same person?

* * *

Deidre watched on curiously from the grove, her back propped against a rock that Rose sat atop, violin on shoulder and slowly tuning the strings.

"Ugh. I've gotta get new strings for this." Rose sighed, setting her instrument aside. Deidre glanced upwards, curious.

"What do you mean, it sounds fine."

"My E string is starting to false." Rose explained, only making Deidre even more confused.

"False?"

"Sorry, it means that my string isn't producing the right sound anymore. It may sound fine to you, but to me I can tell that it's off."

"Ah…. How long have you been playing?" Deidre asked.

"Hmmm… I'm seventeen now….. around eleven years." Rose answered.

"That long? How did you have the motivation to keep at it?"

"Well my family was really supportive of me, and I had some good private teachers to help me learn. Mostly though it's because I love it so much."

"So what made you want to become a huntress instead of a musician?"

"I'm still going to be a musician, I just felt that the world was so dark and that hunters are seen as bearers of death more than a beacon of hope." Rose explained, looking towards the sky, "I thought if i brought music to hunting, it wouldn't be so dark."

Deidre mulled her words over slowly.

"I think that's a noble goal… I think you can do it."

"Aw thanks!" Rose chuckled, "What made you want to become a huntress?"

Deidre stopped.

She had to tell her.

She took a deep breath.

"I didn't want to be a huntress." Deidre murmured, Rose sliding down next to her to hear her better, "I shouldn't even be a huntress."

"Don't say that, what makes you say that?"

"Rose look at me, I'm nothing like you or Novella or Celeste. I can't fight, I haven't even gone to combat school before. Hell, I even almost died during initiation."

"Deidre…."

"Rose, I'm not lying. I'm actually.." Deidre stood up, beginning to pace, "I forge illegal documents for lien, I've falsified birth certificates, resumes, combat school applications because I was good at it and because it would pay for the hospital."

"Wait, what hospital, Deidre you aren't making any sense." Rose pleaded, standing up.

"I was born destined to die. My heart was too weak to support me and is still too weak for me to be living. My aura was unlocked when I was seven because I was having too many surgeries." Deidre rattled off, her whole body shaking and her heart beating wildly, "A few weeks ago, I got caught up in a store robbery and I did something to the guy that made it impossible for his semblance to work. I don't even know what I did. But Ozpin gave me a place at Beacon, Ozpin told me that people were going to come and find me and going to hurt me because of what I did."

"Deidre… I had no idea.." Rose took a step forwards, arms extended.

"I was so afraid Rose, my parents had died, I wasn't getting enough lien on my own. Rose, I wish I hadn't come to Beacon."

"Don't say that, I wouldn't have met you otherwise. You're one of my best friends Deidre."

"I'm a lie! Nothing but a special case who's more of a burden to her friends than anything else!"

"You aren't a burden!" Rose stepped forwards, pulling Deidre into a tight embrace, "Deidre you aren't a burden, you aren't a burden."

Deidre sniffled, the tears she had been holding back beginning to roll down her cheeks. Her hands reached up, clutching the back of Rose's shirt and she buried her head into her shoulder. Sobs wracked her body.

"You aren't a burden." Rose whispered to her over and over again, Deidre shaking like a leaf in her arms.

"You're my best friend Deidre. I-" Rose never finished her sentence, she gasped loudly as the Ursai that loomed behind her sunk its great claws into her back, tearing her from Deidre's grasp.

Rose fell to the ground and pushed herself up, her aura already beginning to knit the flesh on her back together. She looked up and saw her violin only a few feet away, slowly she began to crawl for it, but the Ursai was gaining on her. It was just over her and about to strike when-

The Ursai was gone.

Where the Grimm once stood was a cloud of quickly dissipating black smoke.

* * *

"I thought Johnathan's levitation display had broken Jenkins back, but he pops up and yells 'that was awesome!'"

Celeste burst out into laughter with Novella, the four jars they had been assigned to fill had become full long ago and now they were standing together and just talking.

"You're pretty cool Celeste, we should go out sometime and catch a movie or something."

"I'd love that Novella, you're pretty cool yourself."

"Aw shucks, you're making me blush."

"Am I now? I'll have you know I-" A scream cut Celeste's comment off and both girl's heads shot towards the source of the noise, looking back at each other, confused.

"Was that?"

"Deidre!"

They ran off, completely forgetting about the sap jars.

They burst into the clearing, weapons drawn.

Deidre sat on her knees, Rose held tightly in her arms with tears streaming down her face. She shook violently and looked up at her other two teammates.

* * *

 **Oh boy, this is really late. I apologize for that, I've been rather busy and stressed out so it's been a little difficult to write as of late. Anyways, I should have the next chapter up sometime next month.**  
 **Like always, reviews are appreciated and constructive criticism is always welcome!**


	9. Author's Note

Hey guys.

So, you've probably noticed I haven't been updating this story for a while and there are two simple reasons for that.

1) I have no idea where to take this.

This is the big one. When I started writing From the Heart, I wanted to write about a character with a weak heart becoming a hunter, but anything beyond that was either unclear or not even planned. Long story short, I have no idea how to continue this.

2) I have been very busy.

Very busy. The end of the school year is approaching and so are exams, concerts and things I need to take care of for summer; like getting scholarships and learning to drive. Between all of the private lessons, summer classes and drivers ed I will be doing, I will have very little time to write.

Being busy sounds like a horrible excuse, but thats only a reason I am abandoning this work until further notice.

Thank you for your understanding and support.


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